GAZA CITY, 24 February 2006 — Israeli forces killed five Palestinians and wounded at least six yesterday during a raid on the Balata refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus.
Three men belonging to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, were killed in a battle with the soldiers in the afternoon, Palestinian sources said. Witnesses said Israeli troops broke into several houses and buildings in the Al-Dahia neighborhood, converting them into lookouts.
Earlier, medics at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus said that Ebrahim Al-Saiedi, 17, and Naiem Abu Saries, 24, died from injuries received in fierce clashes with the Israeli troops at the refugee camp in the morning.
Since the army sweep of Balata began Monday, eight Palestinians have been killed by army fire, including the five shot dead yesterday. More than 50 Palestinians have been injured by live rounds and rubber-coated steel pellets, Palestinian hospital officials said.
The Israeli troops also conducted a house-to-house search during which several Palestinians were arrested. Israeli sources said two soldiers were wounded in the clashes.
Meanwhile, a senior Israeli security source said that Israel planned to pave new roads in the West Bank exclusively for Palestinians while Jewish settler vehicles would keep to the existing network.
Palestinians condemned the idea as a form of apartheid and said the initiative appeared aimed at cementing the Jewish state’s hold on occupied land that they want for a state.
The Israeli source, who asked not to be named because the government has yet to finalize the road plan, said there was no intention of formally limiting Palestinian movement.
“We want to ease access to various Palestinian communities,” the source said. “There is no intention of bringing about a separation of Israeli and Palestinian traffic. Palestinians will continue to make use of the roads they use today.”
The source said, however, that Israelis would be banned from the future Palestinians-only roads because “we do not want them to get into a situation where their lives would be at risk.”
